The FREE Cybersecurity Glossary by Thor Pedersen!

Financial Audit: A systematic examination and verification of an organization's financial and accounting records and supporting documents by a professional, such as a Certified Public Accountant. This process involves checking financial statements, accounting books, and banking information to confirm that they are accurate, complete, and in accordance with established laws, regulations, and industry standards.

FIN (Final): In the context of network communications, "FIN" refers to a flag that is used in the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) to indicate that a particular communication session has ended or should be closed. When a FIN flag is sent from one device to another, it means that the device sending the FIN flag has no more data to transmit. This flag is a crucial part of maintaining and closing network connections in an orderly manner.

FIPS 140-2: A US government computer security standard used to accredit cryptographic modules. The title is "Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules", and it provides four increasing, qualitative levels of security - Level 1 to Level 4. It specifies the requirements for physically securing and role-based authentication of cryptographic modules used within security systems protecting sensitive but unclassified information. The standard is applicable to all federal agencies that use cryptographic-based security systems to protect sensitive information in computer and telecommunication systems (including voice systems).

FIPS 199: A mandatory standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States for defining security requirements for information systems. FIPS 199 categorizes information and information systems, which helps to identify the appropriate level of security controls. The standard assists federal agencies in providing an appropriate level of information security based on a range of risk levels.

FIPS 200: A legally mandated standard that stipulates minimum security requirements for federal information and information systems. It defines a practical and flexible framework that federal agencies must follow to document and implement controls from the NIST Special Publication 800-53, which provides guidelines for selecting security controls for information systems supporting the executive agencies of the federal government. The controls are intended to safeguard all information systems except those related to national security.

FIPS 202: FIPS 202, titled "SHA-3 Standard - Permutation-Based Hash and Extendable-Output Functions," specifies the Secure Hash Algorithm-3 (SHA-3) family of cryptographic hash functions. SHA-3 is a subset of cryptographic hash functions, including SHA3-224, SHA3-256, SHA3-384, and SHA3-512, as well as SHAKE128 and SHAKE256, which are extendable-output functions (XOFs). It is designed to provide integrity and security for digital data and is utilized as part of various security applications and protocols.